Google denies AI search features are killing website traffic
Google denies AI is impacting search across the web, saying only "some" sites have suffered.
Substack rival Ghost connects to the open social web with its latest public release
While the ActivityPub integration is a main selling point for Ghost 6, this major release includes a number of other changes and new additions.
Roku launches Howdy, a $2.99 ad-free streaming service
The service features a library of nearly 10,000 hours of content from Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Discovery, and FilmRise, alongside select Roku Original titles.
Only 2 days left to save $675 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 ticket
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 marks 20 years of driving the startup world forward â and youâve got just two days left to join the movement and save up to $675 on your ticket. From October 27â29, Moscone West becomes the home base for over 10,000 movers and makers in the tech world. Join us in San […]
Spotify expands audiobooks access to family plan members in the US for the first time
Though Spotify launched its audiobooks service in the U.S. back in 2022, household members on Duo and Family plans have long been left out. Spotify says that will now change.
Grok Imagine, xAIâs new AI image and video generator, lets you make NSFW content
Elon Musk continues to position Grok as an unfiltered, boundary-pushing AI.
Spotify raises subscription prices
Spotify is raising prices for users in some international markets after a rough quarterly earnings report.
Amazon shuts down Wondery podcast studio, cuts 110 jobs
Despite securing big names in the business, the company is now shifting its strategy in an effort to better compete with rivals like Spotify and YouTube.
Mastercard denies pressuring game platforms, Valve tells a different story
Mastercard seemingly denied playing a role in a recent marketplace crackdown on games with adult content, while Valve says the pressure was indirect.
The uproar over Vogue’s AI-generated ad isn’t just about fashion
âModeling as a profession is already challenging enough without having to compete with now new digital standards of perfection that can be achieved with AI,â Sarah Murray told TechCrunch.
The sequel to ‘The Social Network’ may have just found its lead actors
While the 2010 original film focused on Mark Zuckerberg's rise, âSocial Network Part IIâ is said to draw from Jeff Horwitz's âThe Facebook Files,â which exposed Facebook's harmful effects on teens and its role in spreading misinformation.
Meta to spend up to $72B on AI infrastructure in 2025 as compute arms race escalates
Meta is pouring money into the physical and technical infrastructure needed to scale its AI ambitions. The company said Wednesday in its second-quarter earnings report that it plans to more than double its spend on building AI infrastructure â like data centers and servers. âWe currently expect 2025 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, to be in the range of $66-72 billionâ¦up approximately $30 billion year-over-year at the midpoint,â Meta said.
YouTube loosens profanity rules for monetized videos
YouTube is tweaking its profanity-related rules to allow creators to monetize videos with swearing in them, provided the profanity is contained to the first seven seconds of the video.
Spotify hints at a more chatty voice AI interface in the future
Spotify says AI will allow for "much more interactive" consumer experiences in its app.
YouTube rolls out age estimation tech to identify US teens and apply additional protections
YouTube is introducing age detection technology to identify teens on the platform in the U.S. and apply prtections.
âWizard of Ozâ blown up by AI for giant Sphere screen
The massive Las Vegas venue known as Sphere will be screening its first classic movie, âThe Wizard of Oz,â starting on August 28. And as detailed in a segment on CBS Sunday Morning, this isnât just a matter of taking the existing movie and projecting it on Sphereâs 160,000 square foot, wraparound LED screen.
Astronomer winks at viral notoriety with âtemporary spokespersonâ Gwyneth Paltrow
After spending the past week-plus in the headlines due to a seemingly inescapable social media scandal, data operations startup Astronomer is trying to shift the narrative with a tongue-in-cheek video starring actress and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow.
India bans streaming apps youâve never heard of â but millions watch
India has ordered the blocking of 25 streaming services â many with millions of viewers and even paying subscribers â for allegedly promoting "obscene" content.
AI companions: A threat to love, or an evolution of it?
As AI companions from companies like Replika, Character AI, and Nomi AI abound, love is no longer strictly human. In this debate, we ask the question of whether it should be, or whether dating an AI could be better than dating a human.
Spotify takes a swing at gaming with a mini golf game ahead of âHappy Gilmore 2â release
Netflix and Spotify teamed up to launch a golf-inspired game as a way to promote âHappy Gilmore 2,â which premieres on Netflix this Friday.
YouTube sees a rise in ad revenue to reach nearly $10 billion
YouTube continues to lead in the streaming market, with ad revenue increasing by 13% to $9.8 billion.
Donât miss your chance to exhibit at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 is just around the corner, and with more than 10,000 startup and VC leaders heading to Moscone West in San Francisco this October 27 to 29, the Expo Hall is where connections get made and business gets done. If youâve been thinking about showcasing your company, consider this your nudge â exhibitor […]
With her app Smash, Kesha can be whoever she wants â even a tech CEO
Kesha's app, Smash, is a community platform for music creators to collaborate.
Netflix starts using GenAI in its shows and films
Netflix said it used gen AI for the first time for a scene in an Argentinean show called El Atonata.
Twitch starts testing vertical video streams
Twitch's tests are not widespread at this point, as AppSensa's research only found a handful of references in the app's code that mentioned the tests would focus on just "a few streamers" for the time being.
Substack raises $100M from Chernin Group, Andreessen Horowitz, Skims CEO, and more
The New York Times reports that the funding brings Substack's valuation to $1.1 billion, almost 70% higher than its 2021 valuation of $650 million.
Spotify expands audiobook access to family plan members for the first time
Spotify is expanding access to audiobooks with two new plans, one of which offers access to family members.
YouTube is getting rid of its Trending page and Trending Now list
YouTube is replacing these Trending lists with category-specific charts, the company announced on Thursday.
YouTube prepares crackdown on ‘mass-produced’ and ‘repetitive’ videos, as concern over AI slop grows
YouTube's creator liaison said the change is a "minor" update to YouTube's longstanding policies.
Apple looks to bid on becoming US home for Formula 1
Formula 1 could have a new U.S. streaming service home soon. Apple is in talks to purchase the rights as it looks to further invest in live sports, the Financial Times reports. Apple already has deals for Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer. ESPNâs F1 contract ends next year. But Apple will be up […]
Get your exhibit table at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
Time is running out to secure your exhibit table at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, October 27-29, at Moscone West in San Francisco. This is your chance to get your startup in front of 10,000+ startup pioneers, VC leaders, and tech enthusiasts. Learn more and grab your table here before your competitor does. Maximum exposure for your […]
Moonvalleyâs âethicalâ AI video model for filmmakers is now publicly available
Moonvalley's Marey AI video generation model is open to the public. The monthly subscription is available for $14.99, $34.99, or $149.99.
Tennis players criticize AI technology used by Wimbledon
Some tennis players are not happy with Wimbledonâs new AI line judges, as reported by The Telegraph. This is the first year the prestigious tennis tournament, which is still ongoing, replaced human line judges, who determine if a ball is in or out, with an electronic line calling system (ELC). Numerous players criticized the AI […]
X blocks Reuters accounts in India
The main Reuters news account, as well as the Reuters World account, have apparently been inaccessible to X users in India since Saturday evening.
Google faces EU antitrust complaint over AI Overviews
A group known as the Independent Publishers Alliance has filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission over Googleâs AI Overviews, according to Reuters. The complaint accuses Google of âmisusing web content for Google’s AI Overviews in Google Search, which have caused, and continue to cause, significant harm to publishers, including news publishers in the […]
Could Googleâs Veo 3 be the start of playable world models?
Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, hinted Tuesday evening that Veo 3, Googleâs latest video generating model, could potentially be used for video games.Â
Amazon is shutting down its Freevee app in August
Amazon plans to shut down its Freevee app, the companyâs free ad-supported streaming service, in August, according to an in-app notice to users.
ChatGPT referrals to news sites are growing, but not enough to offset search declines
Not surprisingly, organic traffic has also declined, dropping from over 2.3 billion visits at its peak in mid-2024 to now under 1.7 billion.
Netflix teams up with NASA to boost its live TV offering
Netflix and NASA announced a new partnership that will bring live space programming to the streaming service later this summer.Â
Spotify revamps its Discover Weekly playlist after ten years
Spotify is making Discover Weekly more customizable by genre.
Trump says heâs found a buyer for TikTok
A group of âvery wealthy peopleâ is set to buy short-form video app TikTok, according to President Donald Trump.
With ‘F1’, Apple finally has a theatrical hit
Looks like Apple has its first bona fide box office hit.
Authors call on publishers to limit their use of AI
An open letter from authors including Lauren Groff, Lev Grossman, R.F. Kuang, Dennis Lehane, and Geoffrey Maguire calls on book publishers to pledge to limit their use of AI tools, for example by committing to only hire human audiobook narrators.
YouTube’s mobile video editor is coming to iOS
Google is preparing to bring YouTube Create to iOS devices nearly two years after the video editing app launched exclusively on Android. Job listings reviewed by TechCrunch reveal the company is actively hiring engineers in India for the iOS development project. The job postings show Google is recruiting software engineers in Bengaluru specifically to build […]
YouTube adds an AI Overviews-like search results carousel
YouTube is rolling out new AI-powered features to help users find content and information more easily, the company announced on Thursday.
iPhone customers upset by Apple Wallet ad pushing F1 movie
However well-received the film may be, iPhone users don't necessarily want their built-in utilities, like their digital wallet, marketing to them.
Why Danny Boyle shot â28 Years Laterâ with iPhones
Director Danny Boyle famously shot his post-apocalyptic classic â28 Days Laterâ on Canon digital cameras, making it easier for him to capture eerie scenes of an abandoned London, and giving the movieâs fast-moving zombies a terrifying immediacy. To make his decades-later sequel â28 Years Laterâ (which opened this weekend), Boyle turned to a different piece […]
Cartoonist Paul Pope is more worried about killer robots than AI plagiarism
Paul Pope has written and drawn some of the most gorgeous comics of the twenty-first century â from âBatman: Year 100,â in which Batman challenges a dystopian surveillance state, to âBattling Boy,â with its adolescent god proving his mettle by fighting giant monsters. But itâs been more than a decade since Popeâs last major comics […]
Deezer starts labeling AI-generated music to tackle streaming fraud
Deezer announced on Friday that it will start labeling albums that include AI-generated tracks as part of its efforts to combat streaming fraud. The company reports that about 18% of the music uploaded each day — more than 20,000 tracks — is now fully AI-generated. Although most of these tracks don’t go viral, Deezer says […]
New code in Spotify’s app references the long-awaited ‘lossless’ tier
Newly added references in the music app's code suggest the lossless service is at least still under development and could even be getting closer to launch.
Tubi now features content from popular YouTube channels like Mythical Kitchen and more
Tubi for Creators is a new program that brings content from well-known YouTubers like Mythical Kitchen and more.
Streaming viewership exceeded cable and broadcast combined for the first time last month, report says
Last month, streaming services accounted for 44.8% of all television viewership, their largest share to date.
Patreon will increase the cut it takes from new creators
Patreon is bumping its take fee from creators from 8% to 10%, but only for new signups.
OpenAI and Barbie-maker Mattel team up to bring generative AI to toy-making, other products
Barbie-maker Mattel and OpenAI have teamed up to bring generative AI to the toy-making and ever-expanding pipeline of IP repackaging.